Tubing drainer for well apparatus



W. H. McKlSSlCK.

TUBING DRMNER FOR WELL APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 15, IQIQ.

; Patented Jan. 31,- 1922.

INVENTOR, 57

ATTORNEY.

. iiEn STATES wILLIA vi H. McK ssIcK, or TULSA, OKLAHOMA.

ATM

TUBING DBAINER roe wnni. APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 31, 192,2.

Application filed 0ctober 15, 1919! Serial No. 330,699.

Apparatus of which the following is a. specification.

In the operation of deep wellsthe oil, water or gas is ordinarilybrought to the surface by means of a pump carried by a string of tubingthrough which the oil or fluid is conveyedfrom the bottom of the well tothe surface of the ground, or the gas fused. According to the standardpractice the lower end of this string of tubing is provided with anupwardly opening check valve known as the standing valve. This standingvalve traps the oil or fiuid in the stringof tubing, with the resultthat when it becomes necessary to pull the tubing from the well for thepurpose of'making some adjustments or repairs the oil or fluid which istrapped in the string of tubing by the standing valve is lost.Ordinarily several barrels of 011 are wasted in this manner everytimethe tubing string is withdrawn, and this entails'a considerable loss.The object of this invention is to provide a novel and effective meansfor opening this standing valve and permitting the oil trapped in thestring oftubingto drain back into the well before the tubing swithdrawn, thereby saving the oil and facilitating the withdrawal of thetubing from the well, since this trapped oil in the tubing addsmaterially to the weight thereof and makes the handling of the tubingmore difiicult.

Further objects of the invention are to provide a device foropeniiig thestanding valve of a string of tubing which can be used with the standardoil well equipment without the necessity of any material changestherein,

which is thoroughly dependable in its action, which can be actuatedfrom. the surface of the well by a bodily movement of the string oftubing, and which has no complicated parts to break or get out ofrepair.

' With these and other objects in view, the invention. consists incertain novel combinations, arrangements and associations ofthe parts,as will more fully appear as the description proceeds,the novel featuresthereof being pointed out in the appended claims.

For a full understanding of the invention reference is to be had to thefollowing description and accompanying drawings in which: i i

Figure 1 1s a side elevation of the lower end of a string of tubing towhich the device for open ng the standing valve is applied, said devicebeing 1n the posit on assumed when lowering the string of tubing into"the oil well, parts being broken away and shown in sect on; i I Figure1s a similar view with the parts lll thGPOSltlOl'l assumed after thedevice has been lowered into the well and preparatory to rotating thetubing to operate the device; Figure 3 is a similar view showing theparts in the position assumed thereby after the string of tubing hasbeen rotated to actuate the device and lift the standing valve ball fromits seat. Fig.4 is a view on an enlarged scale showing a detail of thedevice for opening the standing valve. i

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the followingdescription and in all of the views of the drawing by like referencecharacters. l

Referring to the accompanying drawings which illustrate one possibleembodiment of the invention, the numeral 1 designates the casing of thewell, and 2 the lower end portion of a string oftubing formed ofsections which are detachably connectedin the usual manner by the tubingcollars 3. A standing valve 4 which is of the conventional construcktion is shown as: fitted in the string of tubing at the lower end of oneofthe sections thereof,- and the tubing below this valve may beperforated, as indicated at 5 to provide openings' through which the oilor fluid in the well can enter the tubing. It will be under stood that apump of any standard construction is intended to be fitted in the tubingY above the standingvalve 4 and that the fluid will be pumped to thesurface of the well through the tubing. is necessary at intervals oftime to pull the tubing'and withdraw it'from the well, and the object ofthe present. invention is to provide a means for opening the standingvalve and permitting the oil or fluid which has been trapped in thestring of tubing to drain back into the well preparatory to pulling thetubing, thereby avoiding the waste of perhaps several barrelsof this oilor fluid.

A valve lifting stem 6 extends through the tubing length immediatelybelowthe standing valve 4 and the upper end of this stein V oppositelyextending lateral arms 7 which project through angular slots 8 in thesldes" ofthe tubing. These slots 8 are formed in diametrically oppositesideso-f the tubing and each includes a vertical arm and an angularly.disposed arm communicating with the lower end of the vertical arm.Ordina rily. the lateral arm 7 of the T-head of the lifting stem dropsby gravity into the lower ends of the inclined portions of the angularslots 8, and the stem is such a length that the upper end thereof isthen slightly spaced from the bottom member of the. standing valve.

Upper and lower collars 9 and 10 respectively, are loosely mounted uponthis tubing length, said collars being connected by outwardly bowedspring arms 11 which are adapted to frictionally engage the inner Iwalls of the well casing l'to hold the collars against rotation withinthe well casing. The lower collar 10 is provided at opposite sidesthereof with depending wings 12 which have inclined or cam edge portionsadapted to engage projecting ends of the T-shaped head 7 of the valvelifting stem 6 in a manner to be described.

When the string of tubing is being lowered into the well the frictionalengagement ofthe spring arms 11 with the walls of the casing llwillcause the friction device to slide upwardly on thetubing until the uppercollar 9 engages one of the tubing collars 3, this position of the partsbeing clearly indicated by Figure 1.. .After'the tubing has been loweredtothe desired depth in the well it is pulled upwardlya short distanceand the wingslQ of the lower collar 10 brought into cooperative relationwith the projecting I ends of the T-shaped head 7 of the stem 6.

This can be insured by rotating thestring of tubing in a directionrequired to operate the device while pulling uj'iwardly thereon. Theparts then assume the position shown .inFigure 2 of the drawing. Inorder to 0pcrate the device and open the standingvalve a; it is nowmerely necessary to rotate the string of tubing in such a directionastobring the projecting ends of the T-shaped head 7 of the valvelifting stem 6 into progressiveengagement with the inclined edges lofthe win gs 12. It will be noted that the lower angular portions of theslots 8 in'the tubing have an inclination which is reversely disposedwith respect to the edges 13 of the w-ings sothat the inclined loweredges of the slots and the inclined edges 13 of the wings both have acam action tending to lift 7 the T-shaped head 7 as the string of tubingis rotated. In-this connectionit will be remembered that the collar 10and wings 12 are held against rotation within the well casing '1 bymeans of the spring arms 11. The'T-shaped head-7 of the valve liftingstem is thus rotated in the tubing and thereby enabling the tubing to bewithdrawn from the well and unjointed without wasting this oil or fluid.Should a. further opening of the standing valve be desired a slightdownward movement of the tubing after the initial rotation thereof, totrip the device would serve to move the T-hea'd 7 upwardly in thevertical portions ofthe slotsS and open the valve to a greater extent.If it is desired to close the standing valve without removing the tubingfrom the well, this. can be accomplished by rotating the string oftubing in an opposite direction and permitting the valve lifting stem 6to drop back into inoperative position by the action of gravity. Thisdevice can be used in connection with the standard oil well equipmentnow in general use and provides a most effective means for opening thestanding valve when'it is desired to drain the string of tubing;

lVhile I have illustrated and described one particular embodiment of myinvention,

it will be understood that I do not restrict myself to the exact detailsshown, since it will be obvious that numerous modifications and changescan be inadezwithout departing in any manner from the spirit of theinvention. Y I

' hat I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent isz: f

1. Ina well apparatus, the combination, with astring of tubing, of avalve within said tubing; and means cooperating with said tubing andvalve for opening or closing said valve incident upon rotation of saidtubing, whereby the tubing may be drained; said meansincluding a cammember;iand a valve opening stem adapted to be actuated thereby. l

2. In a well :apparatus, the combination, with a string of tubing, of avalve within ing, whereby the tub-ing 'may be drained; sa dmeans'mcludlng a valve openlng stem, and a cam member; said cam memberbeing so associatedv with the tubing as to be actuated by a bodilyrotation of the tubing and to move the stem into engagement with thevalve to open the same.

3. In a well apparatus, the combination with a string of tiubing and itsstanding valve, of a trip member rotatable upon the tubing, means forlocking the trip member against rotation with the tubing, and avalve-unseating element arranged for rotation with the trip member toopen the standing valve upon rotation of the string of tubing.

&. In a well apparatus, the combination with a casing and a string oftubing, including its standing valve, of a cam trip member rotatable onthe tubing, means carried by the trip member for engaging the casing tohold the trip member against rotation, a valve opening stem within thetubing, and means actuated by the trip member upon rotation oi thetubing to move the valve opening element into operative position.

5. In a well apparatus, the combination with a casing and a string oftubing, including its standing valve, said tubing being provided with aslot, a valve opening element arranged within the tubing and formed withan arm extending through the slot, a trip member rotatable on the tubingand formed with a cam portion adapted to engage the said arm to move thevalve opening element into engagement with the standing valve, and meanscarried by the trip member for engaging the casing to lock the tripmember against rotation and render the cam portion thereof operativewhen the tubin is rotated.

6. In a well apparatus, the combination with a casing and a string oftubing, ineluding its standing valve, said tubing being formed with aslot having an angular portion, a valve operating element arrangedwithin the tubingland formed with a lateral arm projecting t tatablewith relation to the tubing and rough the slot, a ring roformed with acam portion adapted to cooperate with the angularly disposed slot to actupon the lateral arm and move the valve operating element longitudinallyof the tubingits standing valve, said tub-ing being formed with slotshaving angular portions, a valve opening stem arranged within the tubingand formed with a T portion of whichthe arms extend through the slots, aring loose upon the tubing, means carried by the ring for engaging thecasing to lock the ring against rotation, and cam meansupon the ring forengagement with the projecting ends of the T portion of the valveopening stem to move the stem into engagement with 1 the valve when thetubing is rotated.

8. In a well apparatus, the combination with a casin and a string oftubing, including its standing valve, said tubinghaving slots in thesides thereof, a valve opening stem arranged within the tubing andformed with a T portion of which the arms project through the slots ofthe tubing, upper v and lower rings slidably and relatively rotatablymounted upon the tubing, spring arms connecting the rings andfrictionally engaging the casing to look the rings against rotation, andcam means carried by one of the rings for engaging the p-ro ecting armsof the T portion of the valve opening stem tomove the same intooperative position when the tubing is rotated.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribin witnesses.

I LIAM H. MoKISSIOK. Witnesses:

, RAYMOND IvEs BLAKESLEE,

HOMER R. KENNEDY.

